


Prom is Stupid (Until it Isn't)

by orphan_account



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/F, Fluff, Love Confessions, M/M, One Shot, Pining Dean, Prom, Seriously 80 percent of this fic is dean having the biggest crush ever
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-09
Updated: 2015-01-09
Packaged: 2018-03-06 19:28:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3145871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean is a firm believer in not going to prom, but Charlie drags him along anyway. It's not the best to be surrounded by happy couples when the one person you want to be in a happy couple with is your best friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Prom is Stupid (Until it Isn't)

_Prom is stupid_  isDean Winchester's first thought on the subject of Lawrence High's Junior and Senior Prom Night. Sure, if he had the same attitude that he'd had two years ago, he would be psyched for prom - dancing with girls, getting to hang out with his friends, eventually taking one of those very-attractive girls  _home_ (or out to the Impala at least), and, finally, getting to tell his best friend about how amazing all of it was the next day. Because his best friend would  _never_ go to prom, not even if you paid him to, so Dean would have to relay all of the details later. 

That was two years ago. A lot had changed in those two years. 

"A lot" consisted of slowly (but steadily) falling in love with said best friend. The best friend that he initially planned on bragging to about Glorious Prom Night Sexy Times, but now he wants to experience those Sexy Times  _with_. Not just the sex part, though; Dean had fallen for the guy, and he was more than a little pissed off about it. 

Loving someone isn't usually easy, and anything involving love and Dean gets about ten times harder than it should be. He didn't think it was right to want to do all those things he wanted to do with Castiel because  _they're best friends._ Ever since they were tiny and in diapers, they'd been together. He knew Cas like the back of his hand and he knew Dean better than Dean knew himself. What was between them went so much deeper than any other kind of relationship - they had a bond that was completely indescribable, almost  _profound._ And Dean knew that he couldn't ruin that with his stupid feelings. 

Stupid,  _stupid_ feelings.

Every time he sees Cas now, he wants to walk up to him and kiss him, or grab his hand. When Cas spends the night like he so often does, Dean always wants to offer to let him sleep on the bed, too (instead of having Cas slumber on the blow-up mattress). Then, of course, there was the touching issue. Dean's a pretty physical person, and since he was already so comfortable around Cas, he touched him  _all the time._ Hands on shoulders, touching his back when they walked, running his fingers through his hair, knocking their knees together,  _so many other things._ It had been pointed out several times by tons of people, but he couldn't find a way to stop.

None of that even matched up with the amount of  _staring._ That was the biggest problem by far, because Cas is so  _pretty._ Dean can't help letting his eyes linger over Castiel's strong legs or the shift in his muscles when he rolls his shoulders. The boy is  _hot as hell,_ so you can't really blame Dean's eyes for watching him so much. Half the school was infatuated with Castiel - the dark-haired loner that only ever seemed to talk to the Winchesters and a select few others (mainly his own family members).  _  
_

Two years, and Dean had gone from totally fine with liking girls (and _only_ girls) and then everything had flipped around. Well, flip is the wrong word to use - it was such a gradual change that Dean didn't even notice it happened until the day Cas showed up for his eighteenth birthday. Midnight, a freezing chill in the air when Cas knocked on his window: small present in one hand, a thermos of hot chocolate in the other. Combined with Cas' bedhead and soft grin, Dean had let him in (despite his pissed-offness with being woken up so late). 

The present had been simple. A silver pair of wings, their names carved into the back. It was an amulet - barely large enough to fit on the leather cord around his neck, but large enough. When Dean had taken the charm out of the box, he'd started crying. It wasn't so often that he got such heartfelt gifts, and the only thing he could think was  _"God, I love you."_

Then it hit him. 

_He loved Cas. LOVED-loved him._

The few months since that realization had been painful for Dean. All those little urges to touch and kiss and hug, and he repressed all of them. Repression was his favorite coping mechanism, of course. He couldn't ruin whatever he had with Cas because there was no way in  _hell_ that anyone could ever come close enough to Cas' level of wonderfulness. Cas and Dean didn't just  _fit_ together - they'd molded together, changed each other enough so that they couldn't be the same without that other piece. It was the same level of dependence Dean had with Sam, and that was dangerous - but he didn't care. He just wanted Cas to stay around for as long as possible; admitting to any of those romantic feelings would shorten that time significantly. 

So Dean is  _not_ excited for prom anymore. The only person he wants to take is the one person he  _can't_ take, so as Charlie suggests that they go, he thinks  _Prom is stupid._ Because it is now. It's stupid. Everything is stupid. Including Dean, apparently. 

"You're acting like an idiot, Dean," Charlie's voice is more than judgmental. "I didn't spend all of junior year listening to you talk about how excited you were to be a senior and doing all the 'Fun Senior Shit' for you to not go to prom now. Besides, I need you to cover for me so I can go dance with Dorothy. You promised."

"Look, Charlie-" Dean starts, but he's cut off by angry redhead. 

 _"You_ look, Dean. I don't know what the problem is, but I'm assuming it has to do with your massive crush on Cas-"

"I don't-"

 _"Listen!_ I really need help, okay? You know how her parents feel about that stuff and I really like her. Please, just one hour and then we can leave and you can mope. Please, Dean? I swear to Captain Kirk that I won't make you suffer too much."

Dean considers it for a moment, eventually breaking under Charlie's puppy-dog eyes. She's one of three people on earth that can break Dean with a look - the other two being Sam and Cas. 

"Fine.  _One_ hour. Then I'm out." He huffs a breath, leaning back against the wall in Charlie's bedroom. They usually study at her place because there's no alcoholic father to deal with. "Don't talk about the Cas thing."

"Dean, I know how you are with this but you can't bottle up something this big," she puts her hand over his, gently squeezing. "I'm not as good at this as Sam is, but you need to realize that Cas-"

 _"Please_ shut up."

 

***

 

He's going to prom with his lesbian friend.  _Not_ how he imagined the big night two years ago. But shit happens. Gay shit happens. Wanting to get very gay with your best friend happens sometimes. It's not the most pleasant thing. 

Charlie has a lovely green dress on - strapless, flowy skirt and black flats. Her hair is done up in some kind of braided thing that Dean doesn't really know how to describe, but from what she's told him, it took two hours to do correctly. She looks beautiful, and he knows Dorothy's going to fall over when she sees Charlie like this. Dean could only hope that Cas would ever feel the same about him if he saw Dean in this suit; it's simple and black, but he's got on a green tie to coordinate with Charlie. Sam tried to slick his hair back with some of his mousse stuff, but Dean hated it immediately - he'd rinsed that shit out and it was just in the normal fluffy-spike thing. He looked pretty average, but Charlie told him he looked "more stunning than Hermione at the Yule Ball". 

They get to the school about thirty minutes after prom officially starts, the gym already packed with sweaty teenagers. Charlie yells something at him about punch, then runs off into the crowd. Dean goes to sit near the edge of the gym, letting his back rest against the wall while he slides down to the hardwood floors. Tons of juniors and seniors dance the night away, shaking their hips and trying to get away with grinding on each other when the chaperones aren't looking. Dean thinks it's kind of like watching wild animals. Some huddle in packs near the corners, others graze freely from the food tables, and many engage in strange mating rituals. He snickers to himself, wondering if Cas would think that'd be a funny observation. He realizes that Cas probably would have made it before he did, and Dean would have laughed and touched Cas' shoulder. After that, everything feels five shades darker than it did before. 

Dean sits at the wall for ten minutes, deciding to head outside when a slow song comes on. He doesn't know it, but the lyrics  _"maybe, maybe baby"_ keep sounding out through the speakers, and that's doing absolutely nothing to improve Dean's mood. He works his way through a few waltzing couples, making his way to the front doors and into the spring air. It's not warm, luckily - the inside of the gym feels stifling from all the movement and people inside. A breeze hits his face and ruffles the sandy-brown strands of his hair. The jacket comes off, followed by loosening the tie and rolling up the sleeves on the white shirt he's wearing. For the first time that night, he doesn't feel like he's drowning. 

The gym is surrounded by walkways leading to the other campus buildings, a few benches resting along each path. He stops at the first bench he comes to, turning on his back so he can lie down. The wood isn't really comfortable, but Dean doesn't mind; anything is better than being stuck in a room of happy couples when you have no one to be in a happy couple with. 

The stars are out, and they're goddamn gorgeous. Dean lets his eyes wander across the sky, naturally drifting to the constellations Castiel had taught him. Cas used to take him and Sam out to a giant field behind his house, pointing out constellations to both Winchesters and telling them the stories behind all of them. Sam had always liked it more than Dean had, but Sam and Cas were both giant nerds anyway. They usually went out without him nowadays, but he would still tag along sometimes. He'd decided to try and stop, though - the last time he'd gone, he'd almost kissed Castiel's cheek. Not only had he almost done that, he'd almost done it in front of  _Sam._ That wouldn't have ended well. 

He throws an arm over his face, groaning at the gigantic fucking mess he's in. "This fucking sucks."

"What 'fucking sucks'?" A whiskey-rich voice says from somewhere behind him, and Dean would know that voice  _anywhere._

"Cas? What the hell are you doing here?" He's up and rearranging his suit and tie, rushing to fold down the sleeves and make himself look classy again. 

His friend smiles at him in that way that he has - the slightest upturn of lips, eyes sparkling. "Dean, you don't have to put your suit back on. You look exquisite just as you are."

How can Dean  _not_ blush at that? Who the hell calls someone else  _exquisite?_

"Uh, thanks. Thanks, Cas. You're lookin' pretty shabby compared to me. Why are you here if you're not here for that?" He jerks a thumb back to the gym, music still barely audible from this distance. Cas _does_ look like his usual shabby self - the ratty ACDC shirt that used to be Dean's (but Cas eventually stole), jeans that had been ripped and stitched up countless times, and a beige hoodie that Cas never took off. Ever. 

"I did not come for the dance. I find most other people in our school to be... irritating. I came to see you."

Dean blushes again. He hopes to every god out there that it's too dark to notice the red staining his cheeks. 

"Sam told me you came here for Charlie. I simply wanted to speak with you. It feels as if we haven't been speaking as much recently."

That's true. Dean's been doing it on purpose - trying to distance himself from Cas. But Cas came back. 

"Yeah, I've just been kinda busy with stuff. College and jobs and all that crap. Didn't want to bother you," Dean shrugs his shoulders, trying to ignore the way he wants to scoot closer when Cas sits down. 

"You never bother me, Dean. You know that." His voice is soft and earnest, and it makes Dean's heart break. 

"Yeah, well," Dean lets the sentence hang in the air, unaware of where it's supposed to end. 'Yeah, well' is a pretty good description of his emotional state these past few months. 

The two boys are silent for a little while, simply happy to be in each other's presence. Talking is never required with them, which is something Dean's grateful for. Silence with Cas still feels as warm and intimate as deep conversations with Cas do, and it's relaxing. There's no pressure to speak if he doesn't want to, and Dean needs that acceptance of silence. Cas is the only person that's ever been willing to offer it. 

The music from the gym gets softer, and soon it's inaudible. Dean knows it must be another slow song, and something about that makes his heart ache. He glances over at his friend, the blue-eyed boy staring at the stars. Dean wants nothing more than to grab Cas and sling him into his arms, waltzing the rest of the night in each other's arms. But he can't do that, so he doesn't. 

"Dean?"

"Yeah, Cas?"

Castiel turns to face him, hunched shoulders straightening out. His expression is serious, which isn't new, but there's also something else in there - something like fear. 

"Cas? Are you okay?"

"We will be going to different colleges, Dean," Cas' voice is soft again, and he's not looking Dean in the eye. "We'll be a state away from each other."

Dean swallows, pushing back the tears he can feel. "Yeah, there's gonna be some mileage between us. Doesn't mean I'm not gonna drive over to see you all the time. I've gotta keep annoying you, right?" Dean tries to laugh it off, placing a hand on Castiel's shoulder and gripping it tightly. He doesn't let go. 

"I want to make you aware of something. And if this changes anything in any way, Dean," Cas stops, takes a breath, and meets his eyes. "-then the distance between us will allow you to move on completely."

"Cas? What the hell are you talking about?" Dean's scared now. He can hear it in his own voice, pitching up slightly and cracking. Tears are fresh in his eyes, and they're about to spill over.  _Fuck, no. No, no no - what did I do? What did I fucking DO?_

Dean's best friend stares at him for a moment, eyes so full and beautiful. He opens his mouth to speak, but only exhales shakily. "I - I care about you very much, Dean. And there is nothing more that I would like to do than find a way to articulate my feelings for you, but I cannot. Nothing can compare to what you make me think and feel, and I hope that you can understand what I am trying to say," Cas' voice shakes again, and Dean can see that he's about to cry, too. But he doesn't get it. He doesn't get it - he  _thinks_ he might understand, but he can't hope and be wrong. He doesn't want to experience that pain. 

"I don't - Cas, what are you trying to say?" Dean moves his hand, instead grasping Castiel's palms in his own. "Cas?"

"Dean, I cannot tell you - I can't-"

"Then  _do_ what you feel! I suck at words too - just do whatever you're feeling like doing!  _Show_ me!" His voice is trembling and he's aware of holding Cas' hands tighter than what's strictly necessary. But he's scared to let Cas go now. He's  _terrified._

The other boy meets his eyes, and Cas looks like he might shatter. "Close your eyes."

Dean follows suit, hoping that Cas won't run off. He used to do that when they were kids and they fought - he'd tell Dean to close his eyes and turn around, then sprint away. 

Cas doesn't run away. 

One moment, Dean's lips are only brushing against the soft spring breeze, the scent of fresh grass in the air. The next moment, there's something far more solid than air against his lips - it's  _Cas._ Warm lips, kind of chapped but gentle and soft against Dean's mouth. Their hands are still clasped together between them, the two boys barely kissing in the night. Cas barely pulls back, and Dean feels like every part of his body is lighting up. 

Their eyes meet in the few bare inches between them, Dean fully aware of the tears trailing over his cheeks. "Hey, Cas?"

"Yes, Dean?" Cas whispers the words back, closing his eyes as he says Dean's name. Cas always manages to make the word sound like a prayer.

"I'm kind of in love with you, y'know," he murmurs the words against Castiel's lips, feeling his friend's sharp intake of breath. He plants another gentle kiss on Cas' lips, pulling away after a second of stillness. When he meets Castiel's eyes again, they're wide and blue and  _wondrous._

"You are?"

Dean almost laughs, nodding quickly and wiping the wetness from his cheeks. "Yeah, I am."

Castiel's smile is so wide and bright. Dean thinks that he outshines all of the stars in the sky, and he tells Castiel that. Cas murmurs "not good with words my  _ass"_ in response, pulling Dean into the best hug he's had in years. They sit like that for a handful of moments, Dean's face buried in the crook of Cas' neck and Cas rubbing gentle circles into Dean's back. When he pulls back and speaks, Dean's head almost explodes from the rush of blood to his face. 

"May I kiss you?" Cas' voice is so soft and sweet, and it's the most adorable thing Dean has ever heard come out of someone's mouth. He nods once, meeting his best friend halfway. 

 

***

 

They keep meeting halfway for the next four years, driving all the way across Kansas to see each other. It's long distance, but they make it work. The second that they both graduate, they move in together. Cas and Dean are all over each other 99% of the time, and while it sucks for everyone else, it's fucking  _wonderful_ for them. Dean never gets tired of the way Cas kisses him and Castiel never tires of the way Dean's hands feel touching his skin. 

A year later, they get married. Dean struggles with not running off the altar and meeting Cas in the aisle, but Sam manages to restrain him from that embarrassment. They exchange rings and kiss for the millionth time and it's fantastic and Dean  _loves him._

He doesn't think prom is stupid anymore.

**Author's Note:**

> the song mentioned is "Maybe Baby" by the shivers. lovely song.  
> THANKS FOR READING! hope you enjoyed!  
> feedback means the world to me~  
> (UNEDITED)


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